The end of the year festival days (GIY2100)
The end of the year festival days is the second chapter of the book Glimpses into the Year 2100 by Ilan Shalif. The end of the year festival days Ri got up slowly. No need to hurry today — the first of the five end-of-year days. After getting up and visiting the dining hall with his mate, Ti, and their youngest girl (aged 5) Di, they sat in the communication corner and opened the family statistics. First, they looked at their energy consumption records. Last year, they had reached their limit a few decimers before the end of the year (the decimer, or 10-day period, replaced the old 7-day week) as a result of Ti’s hobby of scooter driving. But as the rest of the grassroots community was far from reaching its limit, the requests of Ti and a few others for an increase in their energy consumption quota had been approved. This year, they were just a bit below the family quota limit. After that, together with Di, they looked through her statistics for the year. They were glad to see that she hadn’t gone over the limit for any of the sections — clothes, foods, sweets, toys, etc. Indeed, they noticed that her use of luxuries fell far short of her quota, so they discussed the various options and, in the end, Di decided that she would spend what remained of her quota on a trip to the far-off mountains with her five fellow affinity group members. (The basic educational unit and the new living-space units were arranged in such a way as to accommodate six new births per year. Babies were usually born at the end of spring, so expectant parents moved to new living-space units after the autumn, after pregnancies had passed their initial medical checks. The new design of these living-space units better suited both the privacy of each child and couple, and also enabled 24-hour care for the children, who had their own affinity group space until they grew up and joined the company of the older children.) Then, they went to the sports centre where they played a few games of table tennis with various partners. In their teens, Ti and Ri had been enthusiastic table tennis players and had participated in many district and all-city tournaments. They had got to know each other better and after a while moved in together into Ti’s community. Now it seemed that Di was intending to follow in their footsteps, though it was still a bit too early to conclude that it was the sport she loved best. Like on the other special days, Di did not return to her living space to eat with her own group and instead accompanied her parents to have dinner at the dining hall. After the meal, they returned to the group living space for their midday nap. When they got up, the screen on their com unit was flashing. On approaching it, they saw the latest news: the need for the commune factory’s products (special medical supplies) had dropped due to some innovation in hospital procedures. This meant the grassroots community assembly would have to find an alternative for a significant part of the work they contributed to the society that lay outside their community. The members of the workplace production committee were urged to start studying some alternatives before the next meeting of the committee, so they would be able to prepare it in time for preliminary discussion at the coming DD assembly. The main alternatives given were: first, to increase production of other items or new items by the commune’s old factory. Second, just increase the number of work shifts of community members in other community, district or city workplaces. And third, build a new production facility to replace the old one, which would need a commitment by members to take on a long-term mandate to work there, as it would require a significant period of training. Ri and Ti, who were among the commune members who contributed a significant amount of their work shifts quota to the old factory, discussed the subject at length. Ti tended towards the third option. Ri, who had been involved over the last few years with the community’s educational committee and recently with the district committee, raised the possibility of his wanting to train to become an educator in the district educational system. Over the years he had been ambivalent about the subject. His mother was a well-known educator and still worked in this capacity. As a child and teenager it had seemed to him that an educational mandate made people too serious and was not compatible with his involvement in light music. However, he was very relaxed with youngsters, and the education committee suggested time and again that he become an educator. Once, in spite of his reluctance, the subject was even brought up at a DD community assembly discussion, but the community accepted his refusal of the mandate. After a while Di joined them for late-afternoon tea and cookies and both had a nice surprise when Di’s big brother Ted joined them. Excitedly, he told them about the small theatre show his affinity group had prepared for the community festival and the possibility that it would be chosen for the district festival the next day. The community’s announcement system started to play the evening festival theme music that had been adopted just after the revolution in 2050. The music was a kind of a magical march for them and it accompanied them and all the members of the community to the dining hall. Among the walkers were some wheelchairs with the old folks who were too frail to walk. Most of them, as well as some of the “younger” veterans who were proudly walking, wore the honorary hat of that was given to participants in the uprising that had sparked off the revolution. The tables were arranged around a small stage and waiting for them was the traditional meal of the poor wage-slaves in the harsh years that had preceded the revolution. After the meal, one by one, small theatrical groups presented short sketches on life before the revolution and during the next 50 years. Then the tables and chairs were cleared away and the hall turned into a dance hall with local musicians taking turns on stage, playing old and new tunes while people danced the night away. When Di was too sleepy to stay any longer, Ti and Ri left Ted with friends and returned to the dwelling area to put Di to bed. Having said goodnight, they ensured that one of the other parents in the dwelling area would stay there, awake, to look after the children and returned to the dance.